November 25, 2003

Vietnam Shrimp Exports To Japan Grow

Vietnam is currently the second largest exporter of shrimp to Japan, behind Indonesia, officials from the Ministry of Fisheries said.

Since the beginning of the year, the country has exported US$470 million-worth marine produce to Japan with $288 million coming from shrimp exports alone, they estimated.

Shrimp is an export item of increasing value in the lucrative Japanese market, the ministry's market analysts said.

In Vietnam, the largest shrimp exporters to Japan are namely the Soc Trang Food Import-Export Company, the Kim Anh Company Limited, the Ca Mau Aqua-product Processing and Import-Export Company, and the Can Tho Export Fish and Animal Product Processing Enterprise.

Besides shrimp, there has been an increasing demand for cuttle fish and octopus in Japan, two items that make up 37% of Vietnam's total exports, with the Kien Giang Marine Produce Export Company being the largest exporter.

The analysts said exports to Japan may be further boosted in the near future, particularly with a growing demand for "nobashi" PTO shrimp from Vietnam.

However, with Japan having strict food safety and trade name criteria, the biggest challenge for Vietnamese exporters is to assure good quality and food safety in order to achieve credibility there.